


Armin's Secret

by skepticallysighing



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Angst, Crossdressing, Cuddling, Daydreams, F/F, F/M, Fem!Armin Arlert - Freeform, Fluff, Humor, I'll explain later in the story, Multi, NOT TRANSGENDER, Spooning, except plot, just female for no real reason, marco dies, secret
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-08-12
Updated: 2015-08-17
Packaged: 2018-04-14 08:31:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 4
Words: 3,584
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4557753
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/skepticallysighing/pseuds/skepticallysighing
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Armin decided to hide her true gender. When she joins the military...let's just say people start finding out...expect fluff. Expect smut. Expect a lot of Armin awkwardly trying to explain why she's wearing a bra to the Eren that is oblivious to everything.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Bertholdt

"Hey, kid!"  
"Sir!" I exclaimed, saluting him.  
"Who the hell are you?" Shadis asked, walking over to him.  
"I'm Armin Arlert from Shiganshina, sir!" I told him, my voice cracking.  
"Is that so? A name fit for a retard!" the man growled. "Your parents named you this?"  
"After my gr-grandfather, sir."  
"Arlert, why are you here?" he asked, leaning over me. I kept my gaze focused away. (No one can find out no one can find out...)  
"To contribute to humanity's victory, sir!" I told him.  
"How very admirable!" he shouted at me, glaring. "You should make first-rate titan food! Third squad, about face!" He grabbed my head and turned me around. I let out a quiet sigh of relief as he turned to the boy beside me, a certain Thomas Wagner who spoke to quietly in Shadis's opinion, and then to Mina Carolina, who apparantly was inferior to swine.  
The man seemed to know who had already undergone pain. He walked past Mikasa and Eren without a word. The two strong boys, one blond and one black haired, were left unspoken to, as well as the pretty blonde with icy eyes and the tall freckled girl.  
"WHO THE HELL ARE YOU?!"  
"Jean Kirschtein from Trost, sir!" the handsome long faced boy exclaimed.  
"And what are you here for?!"  
"To join the Military Police, sir." I noticed the way Eren's eyes flickered darkly at him.  
"I see...you want to live in the inner district?"  
"Yes, sir."  
I didn't look, but I heard a soft grunt of pain and a collapsing noise.  
"Who gave you permission to sit?! If you can't handle that, you'll never make it into the MP!" I heard him walk a few paces and I could see him glaring down at the sweet freckled boy. "WHO ARE YOU AND WHY ARE YOU HERE?!"  
"I'M MARCO BODT FROM JINAE, SIR!" he exclaimed, smiling brightly. "I CAME TO JOIN THE MILITARY POLICE AND PLEDGE MYSELF TO THE KING!"  
"Is that so? ...good man. A noble objective, but remember, THE KING DOESN'T WANT YOU." He turned. "WHO ARE YOU?!"  
"Connie Springer from Ragako, sir!" His hand was saluting the wrong way. A second later, the man had picked the small boy up and held him in the air by his head.  
"Listen, 'Connie Springer', this is something you were taught; that salute means you're offering your heart to the king! Is your heart on the right, shithead?!"  
He paused. I looked over my shoulder. A pretty russet haired girl was eating a potato. My heart started to race in shock.  
"The...the hell are you doing...?"  
"I AM EATING A POTATO, SIR!"  
That girl, Sasha Blouse, ended up running until 'the point of death by exhaustion'.  
~~  
"Wow...that potato girl's still running..." Connie said, looking out from the porch of the eating hall.  
"It's been five hours, hasn't it?" Marco chirped, propping his chin up as he watched.  
"She said she was from Dauper, that's up in the mountains, right?" Connie asked. "They're a bunch of hunters?"  
I watched them carefully, crossing my arms over my chest. Just in case anyone looked at my binded chest. Not that they would, they all seemed focused on the potato girl.  
"Hey, what's that?" Eren asked, looking at the carriage full of people.  
"Those are the dropouts," Mina muttered. "They'd prefer to work in the fields."  
"But it's only the first day!" Eren exclaimed in amazement.  
"That's how it is. You can't handle the pressure, you have to leave," smiled Marco.  
"I can't believe anyone would rather pull plants then fight..." Eren growled. Marco rose, looking at him.  
"You never mentioned where you were from, Eren, The freckled boy said softly.  
"Same as Armin, Shinganshina," Eren smiled, resting a hand on my shoulder. He beamed warmly and my stomach exploded into butterflies.  
"Th-that means-"  
"You saw it!" Connie finished. "You were there that day!"  
"Connie, quiet!"  
"The colossal titan! Did you seem him!?"  
"Yeah...I did..." Eren admitted.  
That night, everyone swarmed around Eren, asking loads of questions about what he saw. I didn't pay much attention, knowing that everyone was going to take showers soon. I quietly took mine ahead of time while everyone fussed over Eren and ate. No one even noticed me slip out.  
I turned on the water, squeaking and stepping back as it splattered on my shirt. After a few seconds, it warmed up. I undid my shirt and binding, letting the perky breasts jiggle back into place. I cupped one hand over it, stroking lightly to relieve the pain of being cramped up.  
The water felt nice on my back. I quietly sang as it dripped down my form, washing my hair with the strawberry stuff I brought from home. It was so soothing, so relaxing, s-  
"Hey, Armin, wasn't it?"  
I shrieked and crumpled to the ground like a turtle. Well, more like those rolly-polly bugs that roll up, but you get the point. The boy let out a quiet noise and ran to my side. I looked up and recognised the black haired boy, his name was Bertholdt.. He was much taller than me, his eyes were familiar. Green, sparkling. He had a big nose and a gentle disposition.  
"Are you alright?" he asked quietly, reaching out to touch my shoulder. I jerked away and shook my head. No one had seen me naked since I was nine! "Are you hurt? Should I get Shadis?"  
"N-NO! DON'T GET SHADIS!!" I exclaimed in alarm, sitting up and covering my chest. His green eyes took a second to widen, staring directly at what my hands couldn't cover.  
"REIN-"  
I tackled him, a surprisingly easy feat, covering his mouth.  
"You can't tell anyone!" I snapped, eyes huge. He was still staring at my chest. It wasn't exactly perverted, it was more like he had never seen a girl before. He reached out to touch and I swatted his hand away. "No."  
After a second, I rose to my feet, still covering my chest, going back to my shower. He blushed more, trying not to look as he took his shower. Afterwards, I pulled my clothes back on and left without a word. We never really talked about it again, but he made sure that I always took my shower ahead of everyone else, often finding some cute way of distracting them.  
I like Bertholdt. He's a nice guy.


	2. Reiner

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Short chapter, sorry. A bit of Eren x Armin and Jean and Connie being jerks, mostly what happens when Armin and Reiner run together for training.

To be honest, I didn't like Reiner at first.  
Eren slept in the bed right next to me. At night he would get really clingy and I'd always end up in his arms, his back against my chest. It felt a little weird, but I guess I didn't mind it that much. Jean and Connie would look at us from across the room and snicker. I honestly didn't care for either of them, they were just prats. Jean was cheerfully going on about how stupid Eren was and how he was going to join the MP so he didn't have to fight titans. Heh...what a real git. Connie seemed cool enough, but he kept a black book of everyone's. He teased me until I finally looked inside at my page.  
In big swoopy letters he had written:  
"Armin Arlert, a feminine boy who is obsessed with his boyfriend Eren and can't fight to save himself. So proud he thinks he's above the rest of us."  
"WHAT?!" I demanded, looking up.  
"Hey, I don't know anything about you, I've gotta get creative!" he grinned.  
The following events involved me attempting to punch him, me getting injured, Eren shouting about how he was going to kill someone, and Jean up in Eren's face again.  
"G-guys, stop it!" Marco exclaimed, pushing us apart. "We're not going to get anywhere by fighting!"  
"Y-yeah...he's right," Jean muttered, looking down. My eyes went from Marco to Jean to Marco. Connie was going to have something new for his black book. I looked across the room, cradling my injured hand. Reiner and Bertholdt were looking in our direction, but they turned back to each other.  
~~  
Running.  
The rain slapped our faces as we carried our packs, running with our emerald cloaks tucked around our bodies. I bit my lip, knowing I was falling behind. Mikasa and Eren...they had always beeen so athletic. Eren was one of the fastest in our group and Mikasa was determined to keep pace with him.  
"Arlert, can't keep up?" taunted Shadis. "Is it too hard for you? Are you going to give up?"  
I did my best to ignore him, my breaths coming out in pants, a stitch stabbing at my side.  
"If this were a mission, you'd be titan food!" he snapped, going back to shout at the others.  
He was right. I was titan food. How could I ever expect to become a soldier while I was this useless? I had only barely passed the maneuvering gear, as my balance was pretty well, but speed and strength were not things I excelled in. It was so heavy, I wanted to give up n-  
"Dammit, give that to me!" snapped Reiner, taking my gear and pulling it over his own shoulders. I looked up at him; he was taller than me, pretty muscular. His blond hair was short and his auburn eyes seemed to pierce everything they looked at. He too had a long nose-  
(doesn't it seem like the shifter trio all have big noses? Idk, keep reading.  
-as he glanced away from me.  
"You'll end up dropping out at this rate," he muttered to me. "This training is being graded!"  
"But you'll get in trouble for helping me..." I said softly, moving considerably faster now. He matched each stride, our feet sinking into the mud.  
"Then make sure they don't find out before I change my mind," he growled, looking at me. "Pick up the pace and stop being a burden!" I looked back at him. He was strong and smart, not as smart as me, but almost. I had a decent amount of trust in him, despite hardly knowing him. He...he inspired me. My eyes narrowed.  
"I'd rather die than be a burden!" I told him, suddenly filled with determination. I'd show him, how dare he call me a burden...I jumped up and grabbed my bag from him, running ahead so that my pace matched Hannah and Franz. Soon enough, I found myself running besides Reiner. God, I hated that he kept teasing me. He glanced down at me, then back up with a quiet smirk.  
"What do you want?" I muttered.  
"Well, the first time I saw you, I thought you looked like a boy version of Krista. Now I know that you're just a crossdressing version of Krista.  
Krista, the sweet blonde haired girl who sparkled and smiled for everyone, why was Reiner comparing me t-

...

Oh.

"How can you tell?" I asked, not looking at him.  
"Your features are feminine. You're delicate. Your voice cracks when you get upset and it's too high to be a boy's voice...c'mon, I'm not an idiot."  
"Could've fooled me," I growled.  
"Who else knows?"  
"Bertholdt. He caught me showering."  
"Aa~...so that's why he keep everyone out while you shower. I thought he just had a thing for you."  
"He doesn't."  
"Yeah. If anyone likes you, it's Jaeger."  
"Eren likes Mikasa," I improved.  
"Mm. More for Connie's black book," smirked Reiner. I sighed and ran further ahead beside Marco, and Reiner didn't follow.  
So, yeah, I didn't like Reiner when I met him. Still don't like him.


	3. Marco

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I’M SO SORRY FOR THE 1/2 references
> 
> MAYBE..  
> and sorry for the short chapter.
> 
> Next chapter will have Annie's discovery, then I'm not sure how it will progress. If you have suggestions, please share~! Comments are so precious to me <3 Thank you for reading this far...

“I WILL DESTROY YOU!!!”

Thus, we were awoken again to Eren flailing and shouting in his sleep.

“God, that BASTARD!!” Jean exclaimed, throwing a pillow over his own head.

“Can’t you do something about him, Armin?” Thomas groaned.

“What?! Why me?!” I demanded, cheeks flying into a blush.

“C’mon, everyone knows you two have a history~” Reiner smirked.

“Yeah, like your history with Bertholdt,” I snapped back, making the tall black haired boy blush. Reiner narrowed his auburn eyes at me.

“Watch it, girly.”

I shivered, moving to Eren’s bed. “I’m doing it, I’m doing it!” I muttered. “Eren…” I said soothingly, my voice taking the feminine quality that was only natural when I spoke to my best friend. “Eren, wake up. It’s just a dream, kitten.”

Eren didn’t wake up, but he seemed to still. He relaxed and clinged onto his pillow, relaxing against the pillow. I laughed softly and pressed a kiss to his forehead.

“Sleep well~” I cooed.

When he stilled, I moved back to my bed gracefully. In the dark, I could make out Connie staring in shock.

“Oh my god, how does he do that?” he muttered.

“I hate his guts…” Jean growled. “Him and his boyfriend.”

“Armin?” came a pitiful whine from the bed under me. I hung over it to see Marco was smiling up at me.

“Huh? What is it?” I asked.

“Can you..” he motioned for me to come closer. I climbed down and let him whisper it into the ear. “...cuddle with me?”

My cheeks flew into a blush at his quiet affection. “M...Marco, what the hell?” I muttered.

“I had a nightmare,” he sniffled, “a-and I thought if you could calm his nightmares you could soothe mine and help me get to sleep.”

I looked around, then back at him. He was a decently tall, a good six inches taller than me, but his smile made him look like a giant teddy bear. I sighed softly and crawled into the bed beside him. He beamed brightly at me and laid down. I looked at him, still shocked at his clinginess, then relaxed beside him. His breathing was quick and loud, but his sweet smile made up for it.

“Marco…” I said softly. “What are you afraid of?”

“Hm~...” he thought. “Failure.”

“O-oh..” I muttered. I reached up and shyly began to stroke his hair. He smiled and his eyes flickered close. I felt a tiny pang of affection in my heart as he balled up my shirt in his hands.

“You’re safe…” I promised. “You’re one of the best people here and you have a heart of gold. Nothing can stop you. You have half a chance more than most people. (I’m sorry.)”

He seemed to calm down considerably, his eyes fluttering open. “R-really?”

I nodded. He smiled softly and embraced me, resting his head on my chest.

 

Oh.

 

If I had been wearing my bindings like usual, he would have felt nothing. Probably would have just nuzzled in and fallen asleep. Instead he nuzzled himself into my chest with a soft paffing noise.

For about two minutes he was frozen and quiet. Then he just nuzzled back in and closed his eyes contently. He took it pretty well, I must say.

I wouldn’t have half a chance if it weren’t for Marco.


	4. Annie

Annie took Eren down with ease. Such grace in her movements, as fluid as water. Her eyes were like ice, piercing through me when she graced me with her gaze. I could stare at her for ages and ages and OH GOD SHE WAS STARING AT ME.

Hand to hand combat was always an area of...difficulty for me. More or less. Shadis didn’t really seem to care that I was weak, as he liked to pair me with the stronger people. Last practice I was with Bertholdt, and that guy always went easy on me. I could not say the same for Reiner.

“Heh~ are you taking a nap down there?” he smirked. It was far from cruel, but it still insulted me. I stood up and took the knife.

“Fine...I’ll be the bad guy this time,” I growled, glaring up at him. Why did he have to be so tall?! My eyes only came up to his chest. I preferred fighting with Bertholdt. His aura when fighting me was that of a startled wolf finding a baby deer; he didn’t want to kill it despite knowing he had to. He was so indecisive and shy, we quickly became friends of sorts. He was a good listener and I was a good talker.

Sometimes, when everyone was out eating or showering, we’d exchange secrets. He’d rest the curve of my back against his chest and he’d tuck his chin over my head as I ranted on about the ocean.

“And it’s made out of salty water?” he asked, and I missed the amused smirk as he covered us both in the blanket.

“Mhm!” I nodded vigorously, “and I want to join the Survey Corp so I can see it.”

He always seemed to be keeping a secret. When I asked him what he thought was outside the walls, he would quickly change the subject to some funny thing Sasha did during training or how he thought I would be good friends with Annie.

Oh, that’s right, I was talking about Annie.

I was currently trying to take on Reiner while making eye contact with the icy eyed girl. She always snuck off after training, and it made me curio-

Oof~

“What’s it like down there?”

Yeah. I totally hated Reiner back then.

 

 

“H-hey, Annie!” I exclaimed, smiling softly and moving to walk beside her. She looked at me, then looked away.

“Armin,” she said cooly. When I didn’t leave after her total disinterest, she added: “What do you want.”

“I was wondering...well, Reiner was wondering why you skip out on training so much.”

“Oh. Does he?”

“And I was wondering why you’re emotionally constipated.”

She did a doubletake and stared at me. “Wh...what did you say to me?”

“You heard me. I want to know why you shut out everyone because...I-I was thinking we could be friends.”

“Yeah, we’re not friends, Armin,” she smirked. “We’re nothing alike.”

“I think that we might be simila-”

“Shut up!” she snapped, shoving me away. “How could you ever know what I’ve gone through!? You’ve always had Mikasa and Eren protecting you’re pathetic little ass, and you act like you’re smarter than the rest of us. You’ve probably come from a long line of scholars and now you want to change history and be the first Arlert who joined the Survey Corp a-”

“Woah woah woah,” I said. “Where the hell are you getting that bullshit from?”

“I learn how to read people,” she said haughtily.

“Well you should never try to read someone who does nothing except read,” I said softly. After a second’s consideration, I continued: “The Military Police murdered my parents because they were trying to leave the walls. My grandfather was on a mission to retake Wall Maria and he was killed. I do believe I’m the smartest one here-” except Reiner, I thought to myself “-but other than my brains I’m just a useless little crossdresser.”

Wow. This was my smoothest confession yet.

“Cr…?” she asked softly, her gaze turning wary.

I undid the first few buttons of my uniform, enough for her to see the binding. She looked at it, then at me, back and forth and back and forth.

"Wh...why the fuck would you..."

Should I tell her? It was Mikasa's secret, really. The people who wanted Mikasa, they tried to kidnap her and her mother...not her father. What if someone saw how weak and defenseless I was and they took advantage?!...this was back when Eren had mistaken me for a girl. So...for my safety and for him..I began to wear men's clothing.

I lied when I said: "This is just who I am."

She stood on her toes and hugged me.

“Honestly, I was going to say we’re similar because we’re both blond girls with blue eyes and secrets…” I admitted shyly.

“God..you idiot…” she muttered, releasing me. There was a rare smile on her face for seconds before it disappeared to her usual emotional constipation. “What do you mean, ‘secret’?”

“Well...it’s just something I noticed with Bertholdt and Mikasa. They have secrets and you can just...you can just tell. I can read people.”

“Mhm...do you know what my secret is?” she asked cautiously.

“Nope~ and I won’t ask if you don’t want me to,” I smiled brightly to her.

Everafterwards throughout our trainee year, Annie would go easy on me when we fought. She never showed any signs of attraction or hatred, but she saved a spot between herself and Bertholdt. Eren was starting to get pissed off that I had stopped clinging to him all the time, as Mikasa put it. Every time I was beside Bertholdt or Annie, he would steal me away and start ranting about how he was going to kill the titans.

I don’t know if this makes me a bad person, but I didn’t like Eren’s ideas about killing the titans. The only thing I wanted to do was go outside the walls and see the ocean.

“Armin…” Bertholdt said softly. “I promise that someday I’ll take you outside the walls so we can see the ocean together.”

I only laughed and snuggled into his chest more.

I hadn’t realised he actually meant it.

As it were, whenever Connie or Jean teased me about my girliness, Annie was there to fight them off. Besides Mikasa and Eren, there seemed to be no one more protective of me than the beautiful icy eyed girl with movements as fluid as water.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The next chapter should be the night after the top ten are chosen, and as you can see, this is quickly spiraling into Bertholdt x Armin x Eren. With unrequited Aruani. Screw it, everything is unrequited, otherwise we'd have no angst. In the next chapter, Mikasa will discover Armin's secret...expect lots of obnoxious!jean, angry!eren, and flowery-sunshiney!marco. Love you guys, thank you for reading! If you have anything or any ships you want to see, please comment. <3


End file.
